FanFiction 'Lingo'
by DopeyPixie
Summary: All of the strange words used on FanFiction with their meaning, up here so if you don't understand some word you can look it up.


**This is a little guide with all the 'special words' used on FanFiction. It's here to help all the newbies (also explained down below) to understand what's being said and what it all means.**

**The source is the internet, it's all up on different sites but I thought it would be a good idea to post them all together. I DON'T CLAIM ANY RIGHTS OVER THE WORDS LISTED NOR THE EXPLANATIONS!**

**If you're all going to hate on me for posting this, I'll remove it!  
**

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**0-9 / ! #**

**!**- The exclamation mark or "Bang" symbol is to bring attention to a particular trait of a character.

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**A**

**A/A **[Action/Adventure] - Refers to a genre of stories featuring a plot with a fair amount of physical (as in the "shoot 'em up, blow 'em up, beat 'em up" type and not the "don't come a-knockin' if the bed be a-rockin'" type!) action. Adventure stories tend to be mainly plot-driven in nature, but may also contain mystery or suspense or romance.

**A/N**[Author's Note]- A note left by the author usually to inform the readers something of importance (or not).

**ABH **[Anywhere but here] -

**Actorfic** - This is fan fiction where the fan fiction is not centered around characters but the actual actors who play that character. Thus a story wouldn't be about Giles or Adam Newman but about Anthony Stuart Head and Kristian Schmid.

**Adult** - Refers to the presence of graphic or explicit sexual content and/or violence; must be 18 years or older to read. It would be rated PG-13 to NC-17 if it were a movie.

**All-Human **[AH]- If the story is fantasy/supernatural-orientated, all the characters are now human with this label.

**Alternate Reality **[AR] - This is where the world is the same, but the situations are different than the canon.

**Alternate Timeline ** –

**Alternate Universe **[AU] - This is where an author will choose to stray from the canon of the show and create events which are on their own timeline. Usually this is when an author will deny a character's death or act like an episode never happened or say "what if" episode A had happened differently, or they will act like the show stopped a certain place and keep writing as if there are no new episodes after that. If someone writes a fan fiction where Ami never breaks out, this is considered alternate universe. Fan fictions that take place after the end of a show are not alternate universe, however, because there is no canon for them to contradict.

**Amnesia**(-fic) - Refers to stories in which a character (or perhaps all of them!) loses their memory, either in whole or in part, for one reason or another. It is an excellent way to explore new dynamics among the characters, also acting as a way to get an outside perspective without introducing an original character. Usually, but not always, the amnesiac will regain their memories before the end of the story.

**ANC**[Annoying new character] - Speaks for itself, generally an OC (that will probably be killed off sooner or later).

**Angst**- Refers to a genre of stories with prevalent physical or, mainly, emotional torment of characters. Most stories with an angst description contain significant levels of characters feeling emotions such as fear, anxiety, or sadness. Such fics may also be designed to elicit such emotions in the readers.  
AKA: Hanky Warning (meaning you might cry).

**Animalized**- Humans turned to animals.

**Anon** (-ymous) - Refers to someone, either author or reader, who does not wish their identity to be revealed. Often shortened to Anon. When multiple anonymous users are posting, may be distinguished by using such terms as Same Anon (SA), Different Anon (DA) or New Anon (NA).

**Antific** - A fan fiction story in which one, some, or all of the characters in the original creation are killed. So really it's the exact opposite of fan fiction, hence the name. Usually written by an anti-fan also.

**Anti-Sues**- Mary Sues that tend to go in the opposite direction, becoming overly-flawed characters.

**Arc** (Myth- or Story-) - Refers to an extensive overarching plot theme that extends throughout a story or series, either as the primary plot thread or (usually) running continuously within the background. May be originated as part of the original canon, especially among dramas, or developed purely in an author's on-going fanwork.

**Archive**- A site which hosts fanfiction. Currently, is one of the largest in existence.

**Avatar**- Closely related to a Mary Sue, but this is a character which is the actual author inserted into the fandom. For instance, if I write for the character ''…'', who *is* me, but breaks out, this is an avatar. It is basically a vehicle for the author to really, truly play in the fandom.

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**B**

**Backstory**- Refers to a story about, or containing scenes of, the past history of a character as set well before the canon's timeline. The character's prior background may be previously established in canon and just further elaborated in the fic, or the backstory may be an entirely original creation of the author. As backstory is ostensibly part of the character's unseen history, it may be Jossed by canon at any time or possibly even retconned in at a later date.

**Badfic or Bad!fic **- A genre of fic that is purposely written badly.

**BAMF** [Bad Ass Mother Fucker] - Refers to a character who is particularly awesome and impressive, often expressing this awesome power of awesometude by being extremely tough and hard to defeat. BAMFs may be male or female, stereotypically heroic or unexpectedly amazing, consistently so or just during brief moments. (Note that "bamf!" is also the sound that X-Men character Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler makes when teleporting, but that this version of the word is not related to the meaning of the acronym).

**Bamph** [Bitch Ass Mother Phucker] -

**Bandfic **- In which the characters are members of a rock and/or pop-like band.

**Basherfic**- An author that hates an original series and then writes a fan fiction story in which the original main characters are tortured and maimed. It also happens that the author doesn't hate the entire fandom but just a certain character. Authors who do this are often called bashers and the word 'bash' can be used as a verb.

**BDSM** (or B/D, D/s, S/M) [Bondage Domination Sadism Masochism] - Refers to the presence of bondage, dominance/submission, and/or sado-masochism for sexual or violence purposes. Not all aspects of the term BDSM may be included within a single fic, so many authors distinguish which specific elements are included. For example, a fic may include a consensual sex scene of dominance/submission but no sadism or masochism, thus it can legitimately not be labelled BDSM. (Although in such a case, it would be recommended that the author still warns for D/s separately, just in case.) May be mild (PG-13) to extreme (NC-17). This can frequently be a 'squick' for many people, so should be listed in the author's warnings.

**Bestiality **- Refers to the presence of a sexual relationship between humans and animals. Most bestiality stories actually involve a human physically transformed into an animal via some spell or mysticism, but who still retains their human thoughts and emotions and are thus fully capable of giving informed consent. May be mild to extreme, implied or graphic. This can frequently be a 'squick' for many people, so should be listed in the author's warnings.

**Beta** (-'d, -read, or –reader) - Refers to having someone knowledgeable in writing etiquette edit a story prior to posting. While spell-checking a story can catch most simple mistakes, certain grammar faux-pas will be missed. A beta-reader can catch not only the technical errors, but is often useful as a sounding board for improving the story itself. Betas can fill in plotholes, keep your characterizations on target, and help guide an author to new creative heights. Authors are fantastic and always appreciated, but betas make authors better and deserve some appreciation of their own.

**BNF** [Big Name Fan] - Refers to a fan (usually an author or other prominent contributor to the fandom) who has become so well known within the fandom that they have gained power over it. Unfortunately, most BNFs tend to go inevitably mad with that power, and insanity and wank are not uncommon surrounding them. It is indeed possible for some BNFs to be quite nice and laid-back, even using their power for the greater good, but it is dishearteningly rare.

**Bondage** - Refers to the presence of physical restraints used as sexual stimulus for a character in a consensual sex scene. May be mild (PG-13) to extreme (NC-17). This can frequently be a 'squick' for many people, so should be listed in the author's warnings.

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**C**

**Canon**- Something that exists in the original storyline. All of the events which *expressly* happen in the fandom. Meaning, everything, person, event, statement, that happens in the show, movie, or book is canon. For example, Megabyte's real name being Marmaduke is canon because it expressly says in Origin Story that it is. Everything that happens in the show is canon. This is sort of used like a law for fan fiction. alternate universes are where an author deliberately ignores, goes against, or stop paying attention to canon in order to create their own canon.

**C&C** [Comment & Critique] - Implies that the author wants constructive criticism/feedback on their story. Although when a fanfiction author puts it down in a public what they really mean is "flatter me and stroke my ego."

**Challenge**- A challenge to write a fan fiction with a certain, theme, line or idea. If someone says, "See if you can write a story starting with the line 'Call me Ishmael'", this is a challenge. Any fiction which answers this is a 'Challenge Fic'.

**Character Death **- A heading or warning put on stories warning the reader that in the story one of the canon characters dies. If a story about Aaron Hotchner (Criminal Minds) being killed was written this story would carry a Character Death warning. If a story at first implies that a character dies, but later turns out that character didn't, some reviewers who at first think they did might tell you to put one in but it's not required since it didn't actually happen.

**Cliché**- Refers to elements within a story plot, setting, or characterization that are so common and overused as to become trite and stereotypical. Clichés can be annoying when encountered too often, but the important thing to remember is that they became clichés for a reason : people like them! A new twist on an old cliché is almost always a guaranteed success. Some examples of classic clichés include characters changing gender or species, characters changed into animals or children, sudden superpowers, apocalyptic survival, and many other familiar scenarios from the human collective unconscious or your basic bodice-ripper romance novel.

**Collab** [Collaboration] - Two or more authors writing the same story.

**Con** - Not particularly fan fic related, but common in fan speak. It means a convention of fans.

**Consensual**- A heading in adult fan fiction that says that all the parties that have sex in the fan fiction are consenting and want to have sex. This is as opposed to semi-consensual where consent is forced or a character is nudged but not outright forced into sex or otherwise having sex but not for reasons of their own (a character sleeping with someone to save someone's life for instance) and nonconsensual which says that one of the characters is raped (non consensual fanfiction is not allowed on the archive).

**Constructive Criticism **[ConCrit, CC] - A review that points out the bad points and the good things in your writing. Take their opinions and suggestions into considerations, they are not there to offend you in any way.

**Continuation** - A fan fiction which carries on after the end of a movie or series. Any fiction which takes places after Living Stones, such as a fiction about Kevin eventually going to college and getting a job, is a continuation. This doesn't break canon, but merely extends in the author's imagination. It isn't an alternate universe because a continuation has no canon to break, since all the canon ended with the end of the movie/book/story.

**Cookie**- A fan fiction 'teaser' written by a fan fic author to entice you to click and read the rest of the story. A fan fiction cookie is also called a summary.

**Corporal Punishment **- Refers to the presence of mild to extreme physical punishment as a child-rearing practice, whether implied or described. This can frequently be a squick for many people, so should be listed in the author's warnings.

**Cosplay**[Costume Play] - Refers to a type of performance art in which fans dress up as characters, often in meticulously hand-made costumes. They may also choose to interact as the characters would to enhance the experience, for both themselves and spectators. Cosplayers can often be seen at conventions, however the phenomenon is an established subculture on its own as well.

**Crack fic **- Random ridiculous stories. A type of story just for laughs. It is not meant to be taken seriously, as with parodies. Usually extremely stupid and OOC.

**Crackpairing** - A couple that is considered to be highly unlikely to ever get together, but still get together in the story.

**Crossover**- One fandom collides with another fandom. A fan fiction which incorporates characters, events, places, ideas, etc from another fandom. If ''Criminal Minds'' and ''House MD'' were to run into each other, this would be a crossover, since they are two separate fandoms merged into one. Crossovers are also denoted sometimes with the word: "xover", the X standing for cross.

**Crosspost **(-ed or -ing) - Refers to stories that have been posted across multiple different mailing lists, communities, or archives at around the same time. Done to ensure maximum distribution of the story to as many readers as possible, but warned for due to the high chance of repeated exposure among readers who also frequent most or all of those various platforms.

**Curtain **(-fic) - Refers to stories in which characters who are deeply established in their relationship engage in casual domestic activities such as cooking, laundry, shopping, or, the trope for which it is named, picking out curtains together.

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**D**

**Dark** (-fic or -Story) - Refers to stories in which either the content or, usually, the characters themselves are written "darker" than their canon counterparts, although not necessarily outside the bounds of canon characterization. Can range from morally ambiguous to outright evil, possibly even psychopathic/sociopathic. Stories often carry high ratings due to disturbing subject matter.

**DD **[Domestic Discipline] - Refers to the presence of character interaction similar to that of a parent and child, but in the context of a sexual relationship between two adults. Are often part of BDSM verses and frequently includes scenes of corporal punishment, such as spanking used as both discipline for wrong behavior and sexual stimulus. This can frequently be a squick for many people, so should be listed in the author's warnings.

**Death **(-fic or -Story) - Refers to stories in which a major or minor canon character dies. This can frequently be a squick for many people, so should be listed in the author's warnings. (If possible, that is. Admittedly, sometimes the nature of deathfics are best kept secret, so that nothing detracts from the power of the emotional impact upon revelation.)

**Dino** - A fan fiction participant or story from way back.

**Disclaimer** - When an author denies claim of the characters, plot, or main ideas of their fic. A header that MUST be put before all fan fiction which acknowledges that the fan fiction author acknowledges the copyrights to the material which they are writing for. This is both a courtesy and necessity among fans who write fan fiction. All fan fictions on the archive must include disclaimers.

**Drabble**– (1.) A fan fiction that is self-contained and is no more than 100 hundred words. A half drabble is a fan fiction of 50 words and a double drabble is a fan fiction of 200 words. (2.) A drabble can sometimes mean a very short fic that is not exactly 100 words but extremely short, for instance, it is not incorrect to call a 500 word fan fiction a drabble.

**Dub-Con **[Dubious-Consent] - Refers to the presence of borderline non-consensual sexual contact within a story, whether implied or described. Often begins with a character refusing or denying the sexual relationship, but who eventually changes their mind and enjoys the act. It is a grey area between fully reciprocal intercourse and non-con, but is definitely not rape. This can frequently be a squick for many people, so should be listed in the author's warnings.

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**E**

**Ensemble** - Refers to stories featuring the full or majority of the cast of characters within the fandom. There may or may not be pairings within the cast, but all major (and sometimes minor) characters will feature within the story. Among fandoms with actual teams of characters who always appear together, these stories may also be referred to as "team-fics" (for the gen stories) or OT#ofcharacters (for the Het, Slash, or Mixed relationship stories). Ensemble fics are the opposite of character-centric fics which focus mainly on a single character throughout the whole of the story, whereby the name of the character listed indicates who is featured by the story.

**Ep** - Short for an episode of a show

**ER** [Established Relationship] - A genre of fic in which the primary characters are already established in a romantic relationship.

**Erotica** - Tasteful fan fiction which involves characters in sexual situations. The difference between erotic and outright pornography is mainly in the intent of both writer and reader. The line between erotica and pornography is a fine one and easily blurred. However, most fictions are considered to be erotica and not pornography.

**ETA** [Editing Turn Around] - Refers to a note to indicate the author (or commenter) has added to or corrected something in their writing after it was already posted and made public. Can be as little as fixing a missed spelling error, or a complete change of text.

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**F**

**F** - A notation on adult fiction which denotes that sexual situations involving only one female are going to take place in a story (ie - masturbation).

**F/F or f/f **- A notation telling readers that a story contains a sexual situation between two females. If Ami and Jade were to have sex in a story, the F/F sign would be used to tell readers that sexual situations between two females was going to occur in the story. Also known as femslash.

**F/F/F**, etc... - A notation telling the reader that there are going to sexual situations between more than two females. If Lisa, Ami, *and* Jade had sex together, this would be denoted with an F/F/F symbol. There may be more than three females having sex in the fan fiction, but they are usually not denoted in the f/f/f symbol.

**F/M** - A notation telling the reader that sex between a female and a male is going to take place.

**Faction** - Parts of a fandom which are split up among different issues in a fandom. For instance, those that support a character and those that don't are considered factions.

**Fan Service **- Refers to scenes or moments within the original canon source material that are deliberate nods to the fans, such as in-jokes or bonus scenes that most fans can immediately recognize as being targeted to them rather than just the general viewer audience. Fan service indicates that the canon's creators and/or actors are aware of and appreciate their fans' dedication and they wish to acknowledge it in some form by catering to their fans' preferences. Oftentimes, this desire to please the fans is expressed in gratuitous scenes of nudity ("eye candy") or playing up of the subtext between characters' relationships even though it is irrelevant to the plot. Is usually excellent fun for both TPTB and the fans, but can become distracting if overused. See also: TPTB

**Fandom** - The activies, canon, characters, fan fiction, and fans of a particular show, movie, book, or other thing. Everything that happens involving the Tomorrow People fans is the Tomorrow People fandom. This is also used as a synonym for "universe", meaning the world in which a show, movie, or book takes place.

**Fanficcer** - Fan fiction author.

**Fanon** - Things that are not strictly canon, but do not contradict it and are widely accepted by most fans. For instance if most fans just accept that Megabyte's middle name is Archibald, even though it is not expressly canon, it becomes fanon.

**Favorited (Faved)** - When a reader/commenter has added the story to his/her favorite stories/authors list.

**Feedback** [FB] - Replies that an author gets from readers commenting on the story. This is probably the second most important part of any FANDOM, and feedback is STRONGLY encouraged. Feedback is what motivates writers to keep writing. Basically, feedback is the lifeblood of fan fiction. All authors appreciate having comments left. Generally, it also shows the author appreciation for their time. Remember, no one makes any money off FanFiction, and many 'live' on feedback.

**Femslash** - A story depicting. Sexual situations between females.

**Ficathon** - Refers to a multi-participant challenge and writing fest in which authors are invited to submit story ideas in return for writing another author's prompt. Often, but not always, participation is anonymous until a later date. Ficathons often run based on a particular theme, but can be anything. Stories are usually beta'd prior to posting.

**Ficlet**** -** A nickname for a piece that is usually short, but not as short as a one-shot.

**Filk**- A fan fiction that is a parody of a song. For instance, if a writer writes "Tomorrow People Pie" which is a parody of "American Pie", this is filk.

**First Time **- Refers to stories in which the characters become romantically or sexually involved for the 'first time' during the course of the story. As opposed to having an 'Established Relationship' prior to the story's timeline.

**Fix-It **- Refers to a specific type of alternate universe story in which the author attempts to correct or rewrite something that they feel the original canon should not have done or failed to do properly. Often, such fics will follow the canon right up to the certain critical point, but then go off in whatever other direction the author decides would be best to prevent or ameliorate whatever error they believe the canon produced. Fix-its are often written in response to unwanted plot points within the canon, such as a beloved character's sudden death, or to cover over obvious plot holes that the canon missed. Fans who engage in fix-its may be known as "Denialists" because they refuse to accept canon went the way it did when a single different choice at the critical point could have changed everything. See also: AU

**Flag-waving** - The practice of dividing into faction and supporting or "waving a flag" for your faction. For instance, if there are those who "wave a flag" for Reid, they like and loudly support the character of Spencer Reid (Criminal Minds). This can be a fun practice, but has turned ugly in the past.

**Flame** - Mean and harsh reviews. A negative, hurtful comment meant only to anger or upset a person. To send a flame is to flame. It can be a noun or a verb.

**Fluff**- Mainly lovey dovey stuff. A light fiction which is usually just a day-in-the-life piece that is cute and humorous. A fiction about Jade taking a humorous shopping trip would be considered fluff.

**Fuck or Die **- Refers to a situation in which characters must have sex or face dire consequences, possibly even death. While the characters will often be reluctant to participate and are often coerced into doing so by some outside factor, most of them do consent willingly to the act so such fics rarely contain rape. Post-sex awkwardness and angst are common elements, but stories may be humorous or cracky as well. Also known as "Sex or Death" fics, although the consequences of failure to have sex do not necessarily have to mean anyone's actual death. Includes classic sci-fi "Aliens Made Them Do It" scenarios.

**Fusion** - Refers to a special brand of AU Crossover in which the characters of one fandom are written into the reality of another, as it is an easy way of writing an interesting alternate universe without worldbuilding a new reality from scratch. Often, the canon characters of that reality do not make an appearance in the story and therefore fusions may not necessarily count as true crossovers.

**Future-fic **- Refers to stories in which the characters are written at a time (usually far) into their own future. Stories are by necessity pure speculation and can be easily Jossed by later canon.

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**G**

**Gender Bender **- The gender of all the characters in the story are switched.

**Genfic** - Fan fiction which does not contain sexual situations. It is fan fiction that would be rated G to PG. It contains no sexual or overly graphic violence and relatively little cursing.

**Genre** - Refers to whatever type of literary theme that a story can be sorted as. Includes such common categories as drama, humor, romance, mystery, suspense, adventure, horror, fantasy, science fiction, hurt/comfort, angst, and more. The fandom itself can be considered a genre.

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**H**

**H/C** [Hurt/Comfort] - A fan fiction in which a character is put through a traumatizing experience in order to be comforted.

**Het** - Heterosexual Pairings (male/female).

**Hiatus** - Refers to a break of weeks or months between episodes of a television show, usually between seasons/series or over holidays. Authors may also take hiatuses from writing to prevent or recover from burning out. A hiatus does not mean the show or story is cancelled or abandoned, merely temporarily postponed.

**Humanized** - Animals turned to humans. Also works as AH, which means all-human.

**Humor** - A genre in which the fic is meant to be funny, but is not always a parody.

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**I**

**Incest** - Refers to the presence of a romantic or sexual relationship between related members of a family. Incest can be of an abusive nature or completely consensual and genuinely loving. Parent/child and sibling (especially among twins, ie: 'twincest') relationships are the most common. This can frequently be a squick for many people, so should be listed in the author's warnings.

**In-Character **[IC] - When the behavior of the character is the same as their canon behavior.

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**J**

**Jossed** - Refers to stories or ideas, originally intended to be canonical, which have become AU only after-the-fact because the canon material continued on and went down a different path than the fanfiction author expected. Derived from show writer/creator Joss Whedon, who was particularly adept at changing canon with little warning (or explanation) to the fans. Originated in the Buffy: The Vampire Slayer and Angel: The Series fandoms, but has since been procured by many other fandoms as well.

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**K**

**Kidfic **- Refers to stories in which either the canon characters have been changed into children, a fic set in a time back when they were children, or stories featuring either their own children or unrelated children in a prominent role.

**Kink** - Refers to an unusual element of a story that some authors and readers find especially pleasing, but which others may consider squicks. (Remember: what turns you on, may turn someone else off!) Kinks vary from mild (PG-13) to extreme (NC-17) sexual acts, so should be listed in the author's warnings. See also: Squick

**Kinkmeme** - Refers to generally anonymous writing fests in which members can post story prompts or kink-requests and authors can fill them. Anonymity is the general default in the meme, allowing folks the opportunity to write or request kinks they may otherwise be embarrassed to admit having, but of course anyone can de-anon if desired. While kink memes can generate very explicit kinks that many others may find squicky, the anonymity of the meme keeps things open and nonjudgmental. Also, not all kinks are actually "kinky" - many prompts are merely concepts or ideas that a reader is interested in and not sexual at all. Stories written can range from tiny mini-fills to lengthy epics, Gen, Het or Slash, rated 'G' to 'NC-17'. No limits is pretty much the name of the game.

**Knotting** - Refers to a specific kink trope of growing popularity in which at least one member of the sexual pairing possesses borderline animal-like traits such as a penis with a knot at the base that can swell to lock the male inside his partner, tying them together for a short period of time until the knot deflates. Usually seen in Omega-verse fics, bestiality fics, or stories dealing with part-animal creatures such as werewolves.

**Kripked** - Refers to stories or ideas previously conceived by fans suddenly becoming canonical because the original source material coincidentally also took the same path. Is the lucky exact opposite of the more common happenstance of an author being "Jossed" by the canon instead. Derived from show writer/creator Eric Kripke, who has repeatedly managed to validate fans' assumptions and predictions either accidentally or (perhaps) deliberately, as he is known to monitor fan activity and commit fan service. Originated in the Supernatural fandom, but has since been procured by many other fandoms as well.

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**L**

**Lemon** - Any fan fiction containing graphic sexual situations that are described. Much like adultfic and PWP's, only a lemon might be a full length story that contains merely scene of graphic sex. It is MA-rated and is illegal on , technically, anyway.

**Lime** - A milder form of lemon, without the explicit descriptions, but it still hints at the action.

**Listee**- Any person on a mailing list.

**Listmommy/Listowner**- The owner or moderator of a list, the person who makes sure that everything is running correctly and nobody is flaming or violating the rules.

**LoC** [Letter of Comment] - Refers to a quick, short message of appreciation a reader gives an author.

**Lurker** - Refers to a reader who does not comment or review a fic or post. Lurkers 'lurk' quietly in the background, their presence unseen and often unknown, merely passively absorbing the fandom without actively participating. Lurkers may leave anonymous reviews when able, but generally prefer to remain unobtrusively in the shadows away from any possible wank.

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**M**

**M/M**- A heading denoting sex between two or more males. Another /M indicates that there is a threesome. Note, however, that there may be more than three male characters having sex even if only the M/M/M heading is used. Three can also be used in a general sense to denote multiple sex partners.

**Manip** [Manipulation] - Refers to an image that is created, usually via Photoshop (or some equivalent software), by manipulating a pre-existing picture into a new creation. May be quite an obvious alteration to the original image or look very realistic. May also be erotic in nature, in which case they are often marked "NSFW" to forewarn viewers to be careful about when and where they open them.

**Mary Sue/Gary **(sometimes called Marty) **Stu** - A "perfect" female/male character from an author's imagination. Though the character themselves doesn't necessarily have to be "perfect" through the way they are portrayed and developed, it can affect the reader's opinion on these original characters. Most of them are described as "annoying." There is no real hard and fast standard for what constitutes a Mary Sue, but some guidelines can be found on 'The Mary Sue Guidelines'.

**Meta** (-fic) - Refers to stories in which certain meta-like qualities apply. The term "meta" itself refers to something that is abstracted about itself, an X about X. It is used as both a prefix and an adjective. In fic, this includes stories which break the "fourth wall" between fiction and reality, and stories which are written as thinly-veiled commentaries on fandom or real life existence. Will often be humourous or crackfic, but can be quite serious as well. See also: Omake

**Missing Scene **- Refers to a, usually, short story written to fill in, add to, or flesh out a gap in the canon episode's storyline.

**Monofan** (-nish) - Person who only writes for one fandom. Sometimes that person also only enjoys fics written for that particular fandom. Opposite of Multifan(nish).

**Mpreg** – A story in which a male character gets pregnant.

**MST** (-ing) [Mystery Science Theatre] - Refers to an author embedding humorous personal comments within the body of a fan fiction story. Based on the old TV show, Mystery Science Theatre 3000 (MST3K), in which a narrator tossed in snarky ad-libs while telling a story.

**Multifan** (-nish) - Person who likes/writes for multiple fandoms. Opposite of Monofan(-nish)

**Multiple Partners **- Refers to stories involving sexual relationships of more than two people. The terms (m/m/m), (m/f/m), (m/f/f), etc... indicates genders of the involved members (often in the order involved) in the polyamory pairing. OT3s (or any number higher) are automatically included. This can frequently be a squick for many people, so should be listed in the author's warnings.

**Multicross** - Aspects of several different TV shows will be used in one fic. Doesn't necessarily have to be characters; can also feature locations, but it's most commonly done with characters.

**Multishipper** - Someone who supports multiple pairings.

**Muse** - Refers to the source of inspiration for an author or artist. May be another person or thing, or just an aspect of their own imagination. It is what usually breeds the plotbunnies in an author's mind, but it can be impeded temporarily or permanently. This frustrating situation is widely known as Writer`s Block and is the bane of many an author's existence.

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**N**

**Name smooshing **- Pairings with the names of the couples smooshed together.

**NaNoWriMo **[National Novel Writing Month] - Refers to an annual event that occurs every November in which participants sign up to write a minimum of a 50,000 word novel in 30 days or less. Please see NaNoWriMo for more information.

**NC-17 **- A rating generally signalling graphic adult sexual content.

**Newbie** - Any fan that is new to a fandom or list.

**Non-con **- A fic involving rape or any sexual act in which at least one participant is unwilling.

**NS** [New Series] - This refers to the series of the Tomorrow People that aired in the 1990's.

**NSFW** [Not Safe For Work] - Refers to stories or images that contain elements, usually of an explicitly sexual nature, that make them inappropriate to be opened in a public domain such as one's place of employment.

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**O**

**OC** - An acronym meaning Original Character. An original character is any character that is not in the series and is created by the author. It is a character that does not exist in the canon universe.

**OCC** - This is common typing error when somebody actually wants to type either OOC [Out Of Character] or OC [Original Character].

**OFC** - Original Female Character.

**OMC** - Original Male Character.

**Omega** (-verse or Alpha/Omega) - Refers to a growing trope on various kinkmemes in which characters can be Alphas (dominant males or females), Betas (ordinary working class), or Omegas (submissive males or females). Exact details vary, but similar themes of mating, heat cycles, knotting, and mpreg are fairly universal. May contain elements of BDSM, are often generally high in kink factors.

**One-Shot **- A one chapter fanfiction.

**OOC** [Out-Of-Character] - When a character's behavior is not the same as their behavior in the canon.

**OP** [Original Poster] - Refers to the first person to start a conversational thread, the first person to post about a certain topic. In anonymous story memes, the OP is the person who makes the prompt request in hopes an obliging author will fulfill it. See also: Anon and/or Kinkmeme

**OS** [Old (Original) Series] - This refers to the first series of the Tomorrow People which aired during the 1970's.

**OTP** - One True Pairing.

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**P**

**Pairing** - The selection of characters that are in a relationship together. This is denoted by using the abbreviations of their names together or just their name. M/J is, in the Tomorrow People fandom, Megabyte/Jade put together. That is a pairing.

**Parody** - A genre description in which canon/fanon is obviously mocked, often using an abundance of cliche's.

**Plagiarism** - Refers to the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the misrepresentation of them as one's own original work. This includes not only taking an author's work and calling it your own (whether or not you "changed" some details) but any use or redistribution of it without permission. While it can be argued that all fanworks are unlicensed uses of the original source material in the first place, in general the distinction comes from the fact that we do not steal, but create from it. Plagiarism is nothing more than lazy, literary theft and is very, very frowned upon. If you wish to share or borrow aspects of an author's work, simply contact them and ASK - you may be surprised by just how many are more than happy to allow it. However, if the person says "no" or you are unable to reach them for any reason, that's it. Any further work beyond that point crosses the boundary into plagiarism.

**Plot** - Refers to the overall storyline, plan, or scheme within the narrative of a fanfiction story. May include action, mystery, suspense, romance, humour, be cracky or totally serious, etc... whatever elements an author wants, so long as something besides pure sex actually happens within the fic to advance the story along some kind of narrative path.

**Plot Bunny **- An affectionate term for an idea that sticks in your head and you just HAVE to write it even if it goes nowhere or keeps going off into other ideas. This can be a good thing or a bad thing.

**PM** [Personal Message] - On this site you're able to send other writers a personal message. This can be to: give feedback, ask them for help/advice, ask them for feedback, discuss a fandom you have in common, among other things. Doing this is referred to as PM'ing/PMing.

**POV** [Point Of View] - There are three points of view. 1st Person (I), 2nd Person (You), and 3rd Person (He, She, It). Second-person fics are against the rules, except in certain cases. First-person can differ from character to character.

**Pre-series**- A story which is about events occurring before the series began. A story about how Emily Prentiss lived before she joined the BAU in Criminal Minds is pre-series.

**Pre-slash**- A story which is not strictly adult or strictly about a homosexual relationship but which introduces the possibilities, situations, and circumstances for one to occur. A story about Penelope Garcia and Derek Morgan getting closer on a vacation, not starting a relationship per se, but getting there, that's pre-slash.

**Profic** - Refers to entirely original stories that are professionally written and published in hopes of making a profit. Many authors who begin their writing careers with fan fiction before going pro often remove all trace of their unauthorized fanfics from the internet once they become successful to prevent being sued for copyright violation. A most recent story of a fan fiction author gaining professional fame is Cassandra Clare who wrote popular Harry Potter stories before publishing her best-selling "City of Bones" novel.

**PWP** [Porn Without Plot] - A genre describing fics which have little actual plot and are usually extremely sexually explicit. Alternatively, PWP can also describe fics which are nothing but Fluff.

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**Q**

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**R**

**R&R **[Read and Review] - Usually used by authors to indicate that they would like for their story to be read and reviewed.

**Rating** - Can be K, K+, T or M. Be careful when choosing what you'll rate your story, if you're not sure then try to be on the safe side (if you think it's K+, but you're not sure opt to use T instead). Don't rate it lower than it actually is, there are a lot of fans on here who are still quite young and don't risk exposing them to something they shouldn't be exposed to (yet).

**Reboot** - Refers to a complete reworking of a fanfic story or original source material's canon, in which all or most of the original continuity is erased to begin anew with fresh plots, characterizations, and histories. It essentially recreates the work and starts over from a blank slate.

**Rec** [Recommendation] - Refers to a story written by another author that a reader considers to be especially good and worth suggesting to other fans in order to share the love. May also be referred to as "pimping" because you are attempting to make the recommended story especially attractive to the other readers to entice them to read it as well.

**Remix** - Refers to a story written by a second author that is a (often total) rewriting of a first author's story, usually from a new perspective or with a different ending. Usually only done as ficathons or with personal permission from the original author. An unauthorized remix could rightly count as plagiarism, so prior approval is necessary.

**Retcon** [Retroactive Continuity] - Refers to a story or idea written to change or add to the already established history of a canon or fanfic. Often, it is performed to smooth out continuity so that there are no gaps or glaring errors in the characterizations or plotlines as new ideas are introduced. Alternatively, it may completely change the meaning of all other continuity and result in a total "reboot" of the work.

**RL** [Real Life] - Anything that takes fans away from their beloved fan fiction- jobs, spouses, illness.

**Round Robin **- A fan fiction story written by different authors. Each author takes a turn writing a part of the story, then passes it to the next fan fic author.

**RPF **[Real Person Fic] - This is a story about a person who actually exists. If you're writing about a TV show this is unlikely to happen since you're writing about the characters from that particular fandom. However, it is possible that you'll want to include the actors who portray them or friends of yours. It is important to be careful with this because these are real people. Also, if you actually know these people; it's best that you ask their permission to use them for your story.

**RPG** [Role Playing Game] - A game that involves people pretending to be their favorite characters. If you played a game where you were pretending to be John, you'd be playing a Role Playing Game.

**RPS** [Real Person Slash] Fics which use real actors. Most Fanfiction sites strongly discourage the use of Real Person because it can lead to legal action.

**RST** [Resolved Sexual Tension] - Refers to the presence of a sexual relationship, the 'inevitable' resolution of pre-existing UST; either implied or described. RST may indicate an Established Relationship, or one that becomes so before the story's end. Originated in The X-Files fandom, but has since been procured by several other fandoms as well.

**Rule 34** - Refers to one of the Rules Of The Internet originally coined as a 4chan meme which essentially states: "If it exists, there is porn of it." In fandom, this rule means that if a fan can conceive of a topic, be it kink or pairing or whatever else have you, someone else has likely already written it. If not, the corollary Rule 35 states that such porn will soon be created.

**Rule 63** - Refers to one of the Rules Of The Internet originally coined as a 4chan meme which essentially states: "For any given male character, there is a female version of that character." In fandom, this rule is the reason for the prevalence of the Genderswap trope, be it the 'sudden-sex-change' or 'always-a-girl' variation on the theme. It also applies to the opposite of female characters rewritten/redrawn as males too.

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**S**

**Self-Insert **- Putting yourself in the fanfics to communicate and stuff with the actual characters.

**Sequel **- Refers to a story that is the continuation of a previous fic that was written earlier. It may pick up immediately where the last one left off, or much later in the original story's continuity. If another sequel to the sequel is written, they have then become a series.

**Series** - Refers to multiple interconnected stories that follow one another in a sequential order.

**Sex Pollen **- Refers to stories in which some sort of external influence (often the pollen of a plant, hence the name, but may be any kind of drug, magic, or mind-control) causes the characters to spontaneously engage in sexual relations, often oblivious to gender or sexuality or even propriety. Is a classic sci-fi trope. Originated in various classic Comics and Science Fiction fandoms, but has since been procured by several other kinds of fandoms as well. See also: Trope

**Ship/shipping** - A romantic/sexual involvment of two or more of the characters.

**'Shipper** (Relation-) - This is someone who supports a particular pairing. For instance, fans who support a relationship between Reid and JJ are Reid and JJ 'shippers.

**Sillyfic** - A light piece of fan fiction which is ridiculous and meant to amuse. A fic that is about Hotch and Rossi getting into some comical mishap is a sillyfic. Unlike fluff, Sillyfics often break canon rules or get OOC, but it is okay in the case of sillyfic, because the author intends to do this just to get a good laugh.

**Slash** - A romantic relationship between two characters. Usually written with a '/'. For Example: Hotch/Emily. Nowadays, it is used in homosexual relationships. Though it can go either way.  
_A person who only writes slash is called a '**slasher**'._

**Slave** (-fic) - Refers to stories featuring characters who have been either trained as or forced into (often sexual) slavery. Such fics tend to have high incidences of abuse and rape, although not necessarily. Often contain BDSM. May or may not be AU. Usually carry multiple warnings and high ratings.

**Smarm** - Refers to physical or emotional displays of affection between characters, usually of the same gender but not necessarily, that are considered completely non-sexual in nature. Often represented as the affection of family or deep friendships. (Smarm is NOT slash!) Originated in the Starsky and Hutch fandom, but has since been procured by several other fandoms as well.

**Smut** - A NC-17 or R rated Fic with little purpose other than gratuitous sex.

**Snark** - Refers to a type of sarcastic wit or verbal interplay between characters. Snark tends to run the slightly more biting edge of humor than mere sarcasm. Characters whom excel in it are referred to as being "snarky". The term was first coined by Lewis Carrol in The Hunting of the Snark, and is believed to be derived from the combination of "snide" and "remark". It is often considered to be rude and arrogant.

**Songfic** - A fan fiction which is based on a song or includes a song. These fics can range from silly to very serious and heartbreaking. Many times a song fic will not include the song, but will have the lyrics at the end for the reader to infer how those lyrics reflect the character and situations. The site disapproves of this.

**Spoiler**- Anything in a fanfiction or email which gives away parts of episodes or movies. For instance, if a fan fiction gives away the ending of Living Stones, a spoiler warning would be issued so that anyone who hadn't seen Living Stones and wanted to could know to avoid that fic. This is used more commonly in fandoms that still have new episodes airing, such as Buffy. Spoiler warnings really aren't required in the Tomorrow People fandom, but for such fandoms as Buffy and Smallville, spoiler warnings are appreciated.

**Squee** - Squeeing is when a reader encounters a story, or parts of a story, that are particularly entertaining. A high-pitched squeal of delight.

**Squick** – (1.) Anything that upsets, disturbs, or grosses a person out is a squick. If something squicks you, it upsets and disgusts you. Some people are squicked by adultfic or other things. (2.) Underage people making love.

**Stand Alone **- Refers to a single story that can be read and understood in full without having read any other prior story. Stand alones are complete in and unto themselves, and are not related to any other story by that author, or any other author for that matter.

**Steampunk** - Refers to type of story which features anachronistic technology, usually futuristic adaptions of Victorian or Wild West era steam-powered technology. Is a common subgenre of the Science Fiction & Fantasy world, both in and out of fandom.

**Subtext** - Refers to the subtextual (unspoken or unwritten) connotations that are nevertheless evident as occurring 'between the lines' to the reader or viewer, generally as discerned through context or body language and tone. Subtext among characters usually refers to a perceived underlying attraction that presents the possibility of a potential sexual or romantic relationship developing between the characters, either in canon or fandom.

**Suethor **- An Author, usually a newbie, who tends to write Mary Sues. Suethors are not very popular and will be gently, but strongly, discouraged from continuing that line of writing.

**Summary** - Refers to a brief description of a story that captures the reader's attention and entices them to read the fic. Can be as detailed or vague as author desires, identify main elements such as plot-points or featured characters, or contain a quote from the story itself. Should be interesting enough to attract readers, but not give away the entire point of the story. Is often the first tool a reader uses to judge whether they wish to read a story, so some care should be taken when writing one.

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**T**

**Tag** (-fic or Episode Tag) - Refers to a, usually, short story that picks up from the end of a canon episode and adds to or fleshes out the episode in whole or in part.

**TBC** [To Be Continued] – A story or chapter that will be continued later. Often used when a chapter consists of two different parts, but together form one long chapter. Some writers use it at the end of every chapter.

**Timestamp** - Refers to the date and/or time measurement used, usually, at the beginning of a story or chapter, to denote when the events therein occurred. A timestamp fic is a drabble, ficlet or other short story written about some specific time before, during, or after an episode or other story. Timestamps themselves may be as precise as right down to the nanosecond or more generalized, such as ten years later.

**TL;DR** [Too Long; Didn't Read] - Refers to the fact that a post or comment was excessively lengthy and readers may not wish to read the entire thing. Authors will often summarize their "teal deer" (as the acronym can be pronounced) thoughts with a few quick sentences at the end for those who wish to skip the main explanatory text and still catch the gist of the idea.

**TOD or Q&A** [Truth or Dare of Question and Answer] - The reviewers ask the host questions about the characters, and the host answers them in the next chapter through the characters. The characters can also react to dares (in TODs). These are not considered fanfictions.

**TPTB** [The Powers That Be] - Refers to the unseen controlling powers of a fandom's canon, they who brought it into being and who have the power to change it. Usually used within a disclaimer to represent the fandom's creator and/or copyright holders. Derived from Buffy The Vampire Slayer, in which The Powers That Be were old other-dimensional gods who made mortals into Champions to fight evil.

**Trigger** - Refers to anything seen, read, or experienced that can cause a negative reaction within a trauma survivor's psyche, such as flashbacks or extreme anxiety due to exposure to something which triggers the memory of the traumatic event to replay within their minds. Authors should, out of respect to survivors, provide story warnings for the most common triggers (ex: rape, suicide, torture, etc...) to prevent blindsiding their readers with unexpected suffering. Oftentimes, just the advanced knowledge alone is enough to override the trigger itself so that it does not adversely affect the reader if they are prepared for it ahead of time.

**Troll** - Refers to someone (who is usually cowardly anonymous) who deliberately and often repeatedly makes inflammatory or off-topic comments in a ploy to rile up other people and create dissension. Trolls set out to induce emotional responses, preferably as explosive as possible, and don't actually seem to care about whatever point they are making so long as it starts an argument. In truth, trolls cannot and should not be argued with at all because you can't make them see reason and you are only encouraging them to be even more disruptive if you try. Hence, the frequently used reminder of "Please Do Not Feed The Trolls", because often the only way to get rid of them is to simply ignore them.

**Trope** - Refers to a conventional literary device or figure of speech in which elements within a story plot, setting, characterization, or 'behind the scenes' of a fanwork (or canon source material) are a common concept that audiences are already familiar with and can easily recognize. Tropes are related to the concept of clichés but are not actually the same thing, especially in that they are not necessarily overused to the point of being distracting. Rather tropes are significant or recurrent themes whose universality makes them a convenient conduit for familiar concepts.

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**U**

**Underage** - Refers to stories featuring at least one main character below the age of majority (be it 16yrs, 18yrs, or 21yrs depending on author and country of origin) whom engages in a romantic or sexual relationship, whether with another underage character or a recognized adult. The characters who are technically minors usually consent willingly to the relationship in such stories, but the fics may contain non-con/rape as well so watch for warnings.

**UST** [Unresolved Sexual Tension] - This is a term referring to interactions between characters that aren't expressly sexual but have sexual undertones. If two characters are dancing and begin to get very close but then are interrupted, there is UST there. This is a term first coined by X-Files fans to describe the chemistry between Mulder and Scully.

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**V**

**Vanilla** - Referring to a type of sex which is ordinary male/female without any variations or kinks.

**Vignette** - A piece of fan fiction which is centered on a characters feelings, emotions, experiences, reflections, and thoughts. Usually very short. A fiction that is just about JJ thinking of Virginia while she is away on a case is a vignette.

**Villanelle** - A type of rhymed poem that uses refrains, or repeated lines. The repetition built into a villanelle's structure can give it a haunted, obsessive quality.

**VS** [Virtual Season] - Refers to a fan-based continuation of a TV show after its series finale or, conversely, the re-writing of a season to the fans' desire. Often presented in fanfiction format, one 'episode' per week, in accordance with scheduled 'air-dates' and 'VS canon' guidelines that author must adhere to in the creation of their episode/stories.

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**W**

**WAFF** [Warm And Fuzzy Feeling] - A feeling some people get when they read your stories, this abbreviation will sometimes be used in reviews.

**Wank** - Refers to a degeneration in online discussion from civil discourse to complaints, whining, and (often vulgar) bitching. Can occur at anytime, but generally only when egos are in high attendance and someone takes offense easily. (Or if there is a troll about to deliberately stir things up!) Posturing, aggression, and flame wars are common. Many lists and communities will try to put a stop to the wank before it becomes overwhelming, although it may end up immortalised on Fandom_Wank to illustrate the stupidity when/if it gets completely out of hand.

**Whump **- Commonly used to describe physical and/or mental abuse laid on a character in a story, most often used in the Stargate fandom.

**Whumpage** - Violence.

**Wingfic** - Refers to stories in which the wings of characters (either naturally, or in which the author has - often gratuitously - given the character) are featured. Are most often humourous crackfics and/or a type of kink for porn.

**WIP **[Work In Progress] - Usually an unfinished Fic and in some cases a story that has been put on-hold and the writer doesn't know when they'll update.

**Woobie** - A woobie is a character that elicits the sympathy of the reader, often because the character has experienced excessive abuse or misfortune.

**Worldbuilding** - Refers to the original fictional universe an author creates for their stories. Most fanfictions do not require worldbuilding as the canon itself provides that starting off point, but many AUs do indeed richly develop entirely unique universes with their own rules and backgrounds from which to frame their new stories. See also: AU

**WPC** [Words Per Chapter] - The amount of words used in one chapter, not included are the authors notes - just the actual story. It varies from person to person how long they'd like their chapters to be, but it's often between 1000-75000.

_The ideal length of the chapter is the length that is needed to express all you want to express._

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**X**

**Xover** - An abbreviation for crossover. The 'X' stands for cross.

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**Y**

**Yaoi** - Slash between two guys.

**Yuri** - Pretty much the same as fem-slash; slash between two or more girls.

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**Z**

**Zine** = Short form of "Fanzine" - refers to fanfiction stories published and sold or traded in printed hard-copy format or CD-ROM (ie: E-Zines) by individual authors or independant fan-created publishers. Costs vary, but are usually non-profit - all proceeds tend to go directly to covering the costs of printing and binding the 'zines. Often include fan-created illustrations ('Fanart') and never-before-seen stories. Prior to the Internet and the World Wide Web, zine printing and selling was the dominant method of circulating fanworks around the planet, either by mailing through the postal system or trading in person when fans gathered at Cons. These practices do continue today with many fandoms and authors, and there are still several good zine publishers to help new authors get their work printed (ex: Agent With Style) if they are interested in experiencing this alternate format for story distribution. Traditionally, zine-published stories will not become available to the net until at least one year after the zine has been released, if ever.

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**Please don't report me! There are people out there to who this is very helpful (including myself) and I don't really have a blog or any other place to post it!**

**Also, if there are any terms you don't know the meaning to and you want to know, please send me a PM and I'll get back to you as soon as I can!**


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